Creating and Using Actions in Photoshop
Creating and Using Actions in Photoshop
So what is an action? It is simply a recorded set of commands that you can repeat at will. This is an incredibly useful feature once you understand even the minimum possibilities it offers. You can record a set of commands that you use often, such as resizing, or sharpening. You can create actions that make a frame, attach a signature or apply an effect.
You can create your own actions, or install actions created by others. This tutorial show you how to create your own actions, and how to install actions created by others. There are many places on the web where actions created by others can be downloaded for free and added to your version of Photoshop.
For the purpose of this lesson I will be using an unadjusted image from my files. I chose this simple flower picture as it should be easy to work with. I am working with Adobe Photoshop 7.0
Before recording the action, I will make a minor levels adjustment as the image is slightly underexposed. I would also recommend removing dust specs and making any other retouching adjustments before starting. I also cropped this image before starting.
Now it’s time to get started. First we will need the actions pallet opened in your window. Click on the “Window” menu selection at the top of the screen. Just over half way down you should see actions on the list.
This should open the Actions pallet on your desktop. You may notice right off that there are already actions listed in this pallet. Photoshop comes with a few basic actions installed. After completing this lesson feel free to try them and see what they do. You never know, one of them may prove very useful to you.
I usually keep my actions tab in the upper right corner, along with channels, levels and history as these are items I use frequently. If you would like to add your there, click and hold on the top of the actions pallet and drag it up to the corner.
Now it’s time to get started with our action. At the bottom of the actions pallet there is a series of small buttons.
The button pointed out by the red arrow will create a new action. Click on this button
A dialogue box will appear. Give your action a unique name. It is best to give it a name (blue arrow) that implies its function so that you can remember what the action does later when you are trying to find it. chose the “set” that the action should be added to, you can enter a new name here to create your own set. This can make keeping track of your actions easier. If the action is something you are going to use a lot, you might want to assign a function key (red arrow) to the action. This will allow you to apply the action quickly using keyboard shortcuts without accessing the action pallet. When you are satisfied that you have chosen the name, shortcut and set for this action, hit the button that says “record” (yellow arrow).
Now that we have created an action, we need to record the steps that the action will take when it is played. At the bottom of the actions pallet in the same area as the “create action” button you will see a small circle button and a small square button. The circle button (blue arrow) is the record button. It works just like your VCR. When you push this button it will record everything you do until you push the stop button. The stop button is the square button (red arrow)
Press the record button. We are now recording. The first step we are going to take in this action is to make a set contrast adjustment. We are going to increase the contrast by +6 in order to give our image a bit more pop. Click on “Image” > “Adjust” > “contrast/brightness”
This will bring up the contrast dialogue box. Move the slider to the right until the number box says +6. Click “OK”.
Notice that in the actions pallet, under your new action, a line has been added that says contrast.
We are still recording but looking around at menus and such does not record. It only records things that you do that affect the image.
We will now add another step that makes a set adjustment to saturation. Click on “Image” > “Adjust” > “Hue/saturation”
This will bring up the saturation dialogue box. Move the slider to the right until the number box says +10. Click “OK”.
This will have added another line to your action in the actions pallet that says saturation.
The last thing we will add to this action is an unsharp mask adjustment.
Click on “Filters” > “Sharpen” > “Unsharp mask”.
This will bring up the unsharp mask dialogue box. I set mine too 100 percent, a radius of 1.0 and a threshold of 1. Click “OK”.
This should add a line in the actions pallet that says unsharp mask.
Now click the “Stop” button.
Your action is now complete.
If you ever want to add steps to this action all you have to do is click on the last step and hit record. It will add any additional steps until you hit stop again. You can also click on steps in the middle and hit record to add steps in the middle.
Now before you run all over the place creating dozens of new actions, you need to know what to do with them after you have them.
Close the image you have been working with, and open a new unedited image. This action works better on images that do not include people, such as a wildlife or landscape shot.
Make any needed levels adjustment to the new image.
Now go to the actions pallet and find the image you just created. Click on the name (blue arrow) of the action in the actions pallet and find the small triangle button at the bottom of the actions pallet (red arrow). This is the play button. Clicking it will start the action. Photoshop will follow all of the steps that you recorded until it reaches the end.
You can see how creating actions will help save a lot of time with steps that you take to many images. Imagine how fast resizing 100 images for a proof set would go if you made an action that resized images and saved them as a copy.
It could be done as fast as you could open the images. You can create actions that create frames, add signatures, convert to Black and white, almost anything you want.
You can also download many free actions from the internet. The downloaded file will have an .atn extension. save it in the directory of Photoshop that has the default actions in it. It should be: “Adobe/Photoshop/Presets/Photoshop actions/”
Then go to the actions pallet. In the top right corner of the actions pallet there is a small arrow. Click on the small arrow and a menu list should come up. There is a list of all of the actions you have installed. If you do not see the action you placed in the directory, click on the line that says load actions. This should bring up the directory where you saved the action. Select the action that you added from the list and click “OK”.
This should add the action you downloaded to your actions pallet.
Be aware that Actions written for a later version of Photoshop may not work on earlier versions because they may call for steps that are invalid commands in the earlier version. If the action you downloaded does not work, you can always delete it (small trashcan icon in the bottom-right of the actions pallet) and go look for a version compatible with your version of PS.
I hope that you learned something new and can now put actions to use to increase your PS productivity.
So what is an action? It is simply a recorded set of commands that you can repeat at will. This is an incredibly useful feature once you understand even the minimum possibilities it offers. You can record a set of commands that you use often, such as resizing, or sharpening. You can create actions that make a frame, attach a signature or apply an effect.
You can create your own actions, or install actions created by others. This tutorial show you how to create your own actions, and how to install actions created by others. There are many places on the web where actions created by others can be downloaded for free and added to your version of Photoshop.
For the purpose of this lesson I will be using an unadjusted image from my files. I chose this simple flower picture as it should be easy to work with. I am working with Adobe Photoshop 7.0
Before recording the action, I will make a minor levels adjustment as the image is slightly underexposed. I would also recommend removing dust specs and making any other retouching adjustments before starting. I also cropped this image before starting.
Now it’s time to get started. First we will need the actions pallet opened in your window. Click on the “Window” menu selection at the top of the screen. Just over half way down you should see actions on the list.
This should open the Actions pallet on your desktop. You may notice right off that there are already actions listed in this pallet. Photoshop comes with a few basic actions installed. After completing this lesson feel free to try them and see what they do. You never know, one of them may prove very useful to you.
I usually keep my actions tab in the upper right corner, along with channels, levels and history as these are items I use frequently. If you would like to add your there, click and hold on the top of the actions pallet and drag it up to the corner.
Now it’s time to get started with our action. At the bottom of the actions pallet there is a series of small buttons.
The button pointed out by the red arrow will create a new action. Click on this button
A dialogue box will appear. Give your action a unique name. It is best to give it a name (blue arrow) that implies its function so that you can remember what the action does later when you are trying to find it. chose the “set” that the action should be added to, you can enter a new name here to create your own set. This can make keeping track of your actions easier. If the action is something you are going to use a lot, you might want to assign a function key (red arrow) to the action. This will allow you to apply the action quickly using keyboard shortcuts without accessing the action pallet. When you are satisfied that you have chosen the name, shortcut and set for this action, hit the button that says “record” (yellow arrow).
Now that we have created an action, we need to record the steps that the action will take when it is played. At the bottom of the actions pallet in the same area as the “create action” button you will see a small circle button and a small square button. The circle button (blue arrow) is the record button. It works just like your VCR. When you push this button it will record everything you do until you push the stop button. The stop button is the square button (red arrow)
Press the record button. We are now recording. The first step we are going to take in this action is to make a set contrast adjustment. We are going to increase the contrast by +6 in order to give our image a bit more pop. Click on “Image” > “Adjust” > “contrast/brightness”
This will bring up the contrast dialogue box. Move the slider to the right until the number box says +6. Click “OK”.
Notice that in the actions pallet, under your new action, a line has been added that says contrast.
We are still recording but looking around at menus and such does not record. It only records things that you do that affect the image.
We will now add another step that makes a set adjustment to saturation. Click on “Image” > “Adjust” > “Hue/saturation”
This will bring up the saturation dialogue box. Move the slider to the right until the number box says +10. Click “OK”.
This will have added another line to your action in the actions pallet that says saturation.
The last thing we will add to this action is an unsharp mask adjustment.
Click on “Filters” > “Sharpen” > “Unsharp mask”.
This will bring up the unsharp mask dialogue box. I set mine too 100 percent, a radius of 1.0 and a threshold of 1. Click “OK”.
This should add a line in the actions pallet that says unsharp mask.
Now click the “Stop” button.
Your action is now complete.
If you ever want to add steps to this action all you have to do is click on the last step and hit record. It will add any additional steps until you hit stop again. You can also click on steps in the middle and hit record to add steps in the middle.
Now before you run all over the place creating dozens of new actions, you need to know what to do with them after you have them.
Close the image you have been working with, and open a new unedited image. This action works better on images that do not include people, such as a wildlife or landscape shot.
Make any needed levels adjustment to the new image.
Now go to the actions pallet and find the image you just created. Click on the name (blue arrow) of the action in the actions pallet and find the small triangle button at the bottom of the actions pallet (red arrow). This is the play button. Clicking it will start the action. Photoshop will follow all of the steps that you recorded until it reaches the end.
You can see how creating actions will help save a lot of time with steps that you take to many images. Imagine how fast resizing 100 images for a proof set would go if you made an action that resized images and saved them as a copy.
It could be done as fast as you could open the images. You can create actions that create frames, add signatures, convert to Black and white, almost anything you want.
You can also download many free actions from the internet. The downloaded file will have an .atn extension. save it in the directory of Photoshop that has the default actions in it. It should be: “Adobe/Photoshop/Presets/Photoshop actions/”
Then go to the actions pallet. In the top right corner of the actions pallet there is a small arrow. Click on the small arrow and a menu list should come up. There is a list of all of the actions you have installed. If you do not see the action you placed in the directory, click on the line that says load actions. This should bring up the directory where you saved the action. Select the action that you added from the list and click “OK”.
This should add the action you downloaded to your actions pallet.
Be aware that Actions written for a later version of Photoshop may not work on earlier versions because they may call for steps that are invalid commands in the earlier version. If the action you downloaded does not work, you can always delete it (small trashcan icon in the bottom-right of the actions pallet) and go look for a version compatible with your version of PS.
I hope that you learned something new and can now put actions to use to increase your PS productivity.
0
Comments
http://www.samuelbedford.com
www.davidsnookphotography.com
www.davidsnookphotography.com/blog